Silent Flight Gerita Wingtalia One-Shot
by Thequietgermanfrau
Summary: Gerita wingtalia oneshot


zoo

Flashes from cameras, Children pointing and touching the glass, teens pounding on it and screaming, adults laughing.

All of these things were what Ludwig had to deal with alone. After watching his brother burn to death in a fire, then getting hit by a car while trying to flee the fire, Ludwig was taken to a zoo 20 years ago. Right now, Ludwig was laying on his stomach on a platform hidden in the trees, watching people come and read the little sign that had info on him, look around for a few seconds and leave. Only a few people acutely made out his figure, a male laying on his stomach with two large blond wings draped over the side of the wooden platform. Ludwig had three caretakers over his years. His first abused him, feeding him the wrong food and giving him water with no vitamins. His second was a nice woman with long black hair, who would always talk to Ludwig and say he was a pretty boy. She feed him well and gave him more water than he needed. Ludwig got a bath every day too. She then moved away to another zoo, leaving Ludwig with the third caretaker, who was fired today for trying to poison Ludwig. So, Ludwig was getting a new caretaker soon, and he hoped they would try and free him.

Ludwig sighed, letting out a small chirp as he flicked his left wing a bit, trying to get the tiny dust particles away from his wing. Many people were gathered around his cage all the time, most of them kids on field trips. As of right now, Ludwig could see about fifteen people were around his cage, one person sitting down with a sketch book drawing something.

 _'Not me, that's for sure.'_ Ludwig thought.

Ludwig looked, seeing one of the other staff members, one of the caretakers who took care of the birds walk by, looking at the crowd she told them to back off, be quiet and let Ludwig have his space. A few backed off, the drawer got up and left a few minutes later, finishing his drawing probably. Ludwig kicked his legs a bi, wigs folding in an 'M' shape before folding in all the way. Ludwig stood up, stretching his arms before opening his wings, flapping them a bit causing the leaves to shake, the branches swaying slightly. Ludwig flew out of the tree, landing on a log that was sticking out from the ground. He looked around seeing people now crowding his cage, taking pictures and pounding on the glass. Ludwig opened his wings above his head, hissing and ruffling his feathers. The people laughed and pointed, taking pictures. Out of embarrassment, Ludwig whimpered, folding his wings in tightly, almost making all his feathers disappear.

"Mute boy, mute boy!" A few kids chanted

It's true, people though bird people, like Ludwig were mute and could only chip and whistle-anything birds could do. Boy was it wrong. Ludwig could speak, He spoke German being Germany is his home land and he spoke some English. But he understood it quite well.

Parents of the kids just watched their kids, a few even went along, but one pulled their kids away, scolding them. The kids came back and apologized to the bird human, who was still sitting on the log with his wings folded.

The zoo hours dragged on, Ludwig flying around his cage for a bit, sitting on the log, eating anf going back to the platform. He did other things, like go to the bathroom and decorate his platform with flowers that were growing. Ludwig was now sitting down on the grass, legs crossed and wings down laying on the grass, feathers tucked in between the feathers to make his feathers look brighter. Ludwig sighed, looking at the tracker that was clipped on his right wing. A knock echoed around Ludwig, causing him to look up seeing the zoo manager. She pointed to the door to the back of his cage, and made walking motions. Ludwig stood up, walking in the direction of the door, looking back. The manager nodded and left walking in the direction of the door on the outside. Ludwig walked forwards, placing his hand on the doorknob and twisting it, opening the door and walking into the cement room. There was the manager talking to a browned haired boy, wearing full uniform. Ludwig cleared his throat, the two stopped talking.

"Ah, Feliciano this is Ludwig, you'll be taking care of him. He needs lots of fish, vegetables and strangely potatoes and Wurst. You have the instructions and tips from our best caretaker who took care of Ludwig. Just a reminder, he speaks mild English, more or so you might have to teach him or learn German, seeing us humans can't speak bird. I must be going, the lion caretaker wanted to talk to me about something, see ya guys." The manager said, walking over to Ludwig quickly.

"Be nice to Feliciano, no playing dead with him." The manager said sternly.

Ludwig whined, wings now folded in and drooping slightly. The manager laughed, patting Ludwig's right wing softly before walking out of the room. Feliciano bounded over to Ludwig, holding his hand out.

"Ciao, I'm Feliciano, your new caretaker, Ludwig!" Feli giggeled, looking up at the tall bird human.

Ludwig took Feli's hand with caution, shaking it a bit before stuttering out his greeting "G-guten tag, I'm... Ludwig."

Feliciano 'awwed' seeing the intimidating winged male was stuttering and blushing, feathers ruffled and wings shaking a bit.

"Well, Ludwig, It says the first thing it says to do is that I gotta be careful when talking to you, seeing you have limited vocabulary to answer."

"Ja." Ludwig answered, walking over to the stool with its back side busted out, sitting down and leaning forwards a bit.

Feliciano walked over and sat down on the stool with a back, sitting down and smileing at Ludwig.

"Can I ask you questions to get to know you better? I would like to know them coming from you!" Feliciano asked, scooting the stool closer.

"Y-yes." Ludwig answered, wings still folded.

"How old are you?"

"120 I think." Ludwig replied

"Do you have any family members?"

"Mein Bruder died...burned...alive." Ludwig quietly said "No family left."

"Oh, I'm sorry luddy. It says that I'm supposed to check your wings once a day, may I do that now?" Feliciano asked, pity in his voice.

"Ja." Ludwig answered.

Feliciano stood up, setting the notes down after re-reading what he was supposed to do when checking Ludwig's wings.

Ludwig stood up, turning around so his back faced Feliciano. Feliciano saw the pretty flowers laced in between his feathers, gasping. Ludwig opening his wings to full extent, both wings almost touching the walls.

"I guess you're lucky you don't have to wear a shirt, aren't you?" Feliciano asked/

"To...hard to wear...I get...hot." Ludwig answered slowly.

Ludwig was only wearing lose pants and a wrap on his feet, going up his legs and ending at his knees. Feliciano put one hand on the front of Ludwig's right wing along the bone line, the other on the back. He ran his hand along the bone line lightly, but hard enough to feel if there was any break in the bone. Feli marveled at how soft Ludwig's wings were. Once Feliciano was done, he did the same to the other wing.

"You know, I used to have three pet birds, all parrots." Feliciano said, trying to spark a conversation.

"..Interstin." Ludwig said, trying out the new word.

Feliciano giggeled replying "It's, interesting, Ludwig. It's like I'm talking to a little bambina, but I'm talking to an old man."

"Oh."

"Your wings remind me of a California condor's and a bearded vulture's, there very big and pretty, especially with the colorful flowers."

Ludwig blushed red at the mention of the flowers, he moved his wing in front of him say "Sorry, I...forgot to move...flowers."

Ludwig started to take them out of his pale blond wings, only for Feliciano to chuckle.

"No, I like them. You can keep them in." Feliciano chuckled, placing his hand on Ludwig's, removing the flower and placing it back in between the feathers.

Feliciano saw how Ludwig's wings fingered at the end, the feathers large and tattered from flight and fighting, But Feliciano noticed how they were blackened in a few areas.

"Ludwig, why are your feathers blacked a bit on the fingering ones?" Feliciano asked

"...Fire..." Was Ludwig's replied.

Ludwig sat back down on the stool, Feliciano now went over, and seeing next Ludwig was to eat.

"Next is feeding time, right?" Feliciano asked

"Yes. I...want m-more Wurst...Today." Ludwig said, beaming at the using of harder English words.

"Feli smiled, beaming back and heading to the door, saying "I'll be right back with your food."

Ludwig waited, racking his brain for the English word for 'thank you'. He could only remember the German word. Ludwig was so focused that after a few minutes, he never noticed Feliciano walk back into the room, a plate of food in his hands.

"Ludwig, I got your food!" Feliciano chirped.

"Th-thank y-you." Ludwig drawled out, holding his hands out and taking the plate and the fork from Feliciano, eating his Wurst, potatoes and vegetables. Feli told Ludwig a bit about his life in Italy, moving to America a few years after learning English and taking a job as a zoo member. After Ludwig was finished, Feliciano checked the notes, seeing that the next note said 'Ludwig usually goes to bed around 11:00 and wakes up at 5:00. In the morning you must feed him, give him water and brush his feathers. Talk to him and give him a pep talk about self-confidence. He usually gets scared being around other people, being that he came here in 1990.'

"So, you go to bed at 11:00, am I right?" Feliciano said, checking the time seeing it was 7:00.

"Yes...Can...we play?" Ludwig asked, blushing and looking away. "Maybe...see other...birds."

"Sure! We can see the other birds first!" Feliciano smiled, walking to the door.

Ludwig got up, nodding his head and followed Feliciano out the door. Ludwig walked past Feliciano turning a right then turning a left.

"Wait up, Luddy!" Feliciano called after, running to catch up the Ludwig who was now standing by the door to the bird area.

Feliciano pulled out his key ring, finding the right key and unlocking the door, pushing it open. Feliciano waiting for Ludwig to pass him before closing the door. There was another door Ludwig pushed it open. The bird room was a large room with a tree in the middle, the outside of the room with grass and different trees. The birds were to fly free, that's why they had two doors. Feliciano watched the birds come to Ludwig, land on his hand arms, some of the larger birds landed on his wings, Ludwig whistling to them. After a few minutes of This happening, Feliciano watched as Ludwig opened his large wings, the flowers still in his feathers and he pushed down, flying upwards towards the tree and landing on one of the larger lower branches. The entire tree shook a bit, but Ludwig sat down, bird's landing on the branches.

"Whoa." Feliciano gasped, seeing that Ludwig whistled something, making all the birds go quiet, looking at Feliciano.

One bird chirped something, Ludwig chirped back and all the birds that were near him flew away. Ludwig's large wings were folded like a bearded vulture, tip's sharply pointed and down. A few flowers fell from Ludwig's wings, falling to the ground. Feliciano's eyes were trained of Ludwig, seeing him there in the tree like he was the king of birds. Well, considering that he had large wings, all the birds in here were smaller too, Ludwig would be the king almost. All the larger birds like a few of the owls, eagles, crows, vultures and hawks were in a hallway different cages. Ludwig looked over at Feliciano, seeing his eyes were filled with interest.

"Ludwig, let's see the other birds!" Feliciano called, hand resting on the handle of the second door.

Ludwig smiled, nodding his head before standing up and jumping down, wings opening and Ludwig swooping upwards a bit, landing gracefully. Ludwig folded his wings in, now most of the flowers were out. He jogged over to Feliciano before opening the door, walking into the little room that separated the rooms. Feliciano walked after him, letting the door close before opening the first door. Both of them walked out, Ludwig walking in front of Feliciano and turning a left, ending up in the area devoted to larger birds, who were all in large cages. All the birds were quiet, a few hawks screeching here and there but once Ludwig walked down the hallway, they got still, looking at the challenger. Ludwig walked over to the cage where the two golden eagles rested, one perched on a log with a broken wing, the other one on the ground with clipped wings. Ludwig walked over resting his hand on the glass and opening his wings, them drooping slightly. The golden eagle closest to him was the one on the ground. It squawked and flapped its wings, hopping over to the glass cage. Ludwig smiled and crooned, resting his forehead on the glass peering down at his countries nation bird, trapped in a cage. Feliciano felt pity for the animal, who was now pecking the glass with its beak. After a few minutes, Feliciano checked his watch seeing it was 10:00 already.

"Ludwig, it's almost time for you to go to bed." Feliciano softly said, not wanting to ruin the moment for Ludwig and the eagle.

Ludwig turned around, folding his thickly feathered wings in before saying "Okay."

Feliciano watched Ludwig follow him back to the little cement room. Feliciano picked up the notes seeing the last thing on the list is to wish Ludwig goodnight, then leave.

"What do you want to do with the last hour of your time up?" Feliciano asked

"Play." Ludwig said, wings opening and going in an 'M' shape as a devilish smirk went on his face.

Ludwig ran over to Feliciano, wrapping his arms around the man and lifting him up. Ludwig ran into his cage and pushed his wings down, flying into the air while Feliciano was being carried by the gentle avian human. Feliciano screamed a bit, only to see Ludwig had a good hold on him did he relax. Ludwig flew up to his hidden platform, landing and letting Feliciano down, only for Ludwig to suddenly say "No touching...This area!"

Ludwig pointed to an area where the platform was covered in flowers, the area that Ludwig was currently working on building using the flowers that grew on the tree. Feliciano smiled, picking a few flowers and making a flower crown. After a few minutes, Ludwig stopped building when Feliciano said "Done!"

The German looked over, tilting his head to the side in curiosity at what Feliciano had in his hands.

"What's...That? "Ludwig asked.

Feliciano lifted his hands up, placing the flower crown on Ludwig's head.

"It's a flower crown, silly!" Feliciano replied "You make them and wear them on your head!"

"It's...pretty." Ludwig said "Thank you!"

Feliciano grinned, patting Ludwig's head. The two sat in silence, Ludwig laying on his stomach on the bed of flowers, left wing over the side of the platform while the right was open, Feliciano putting flowers in the feathers.

"Oh...Me need...sleep...Guten natch, Feli." Ludwig yawned, closing his eyes.

Feliciano gently shook Ludwig saying "But I need to get down!"

Ludwig pointed to the tree saying "Stairs."

Feliciano noticed the stairs going downwards. He 'ohhed' before looking back to Ludwig, who had his left wing laying on the platform, the fingering feathers over the edge. He was fast asleep, light snores. Feliciano smiled lightly before walking down the stairs, a grin on his face.

"Hey, Feliciano! There you are!" The manager called, running over to Feliciano who was at the foot of the stairs.

"Hm? Oh, Ciao bella!" Feliciano greeted the female.

"How did you like it with Ludwig? He's a great one isn't he? Did he ask you to see the birds?" the manager asked. Leading Feliciano into the cement room.

"Yeah, I never knew someone so beautiful could be so controlling. His wings are very soft." Feliciano replied, seeing the manager laugh.

"Yeah, all his caretakers, even the ones who abused him a bit, say they fell in love with him at first sighed when he took them to see the birds, mostly Ludwig's second caretaker would let him see the birds and even handle the larger birds." Was her reply

He's great to work with, I would love to show him to my brother and my friends, if it's okay with you. They can come here later after we close, is that okay?" Feliciano asked

"Yeah, anytime Feliciano. So ae you going to stay? Ludwig usually gets portative to his caretakers, no matter how mean they are. One time, when one of the animals got lose, Ludwig wouldn't let his caretaker leave his cage, and anyone who passed he would hiss at them."

"Yeah, I'll stay! He's a nice man." Feliciano replied

"Hahaha, alright! You can bring your friends and siblings anytime for free. See you tomorrow!" The manager called

After a few weeks, Ludwig was standing outside of his cage, back facing everyone as he had one wing open, one folded. He was being let out for a show, Kids and parents all gathered around, Feeling his feathers and seeing his wing span while Feliciano talked and answered questions. So far, this was the best day of Ludwig's life, getting complements and gifts from kids. If only his brother were here to see...

If only Gilbert were here...


End file.
